Good Success

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8

When Joshua became leader of Israel in place of Moses, God told him: ‘This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.’ There are two kinds of success: success that fulfils God’s will for your life; and success that is temporal, can leave you feeling empty, and dies when you die. Boris Becker, the world championship tennis player, reportedly contemplated suicide because of the sheer emptiness he experienced in life. Even though he appeared to be successful, he knew his life wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. ‘I had won Wimbledon twice before, once as the youngest player,’ he said. ‘I was rich. I had all the material possessions I needed: money, cars, women, everything…I know this is a cliché. It is the old song of the movie and pop stars who commit suicide. They have everything and yet they are so unhappy…I had no inner peace. I was a puppet on a string.’ Someone once said, ‘In whatever man does without God, he must fail miserably or succeed even more miserably.’ Do you know why that statement is true? Because without God all success ends in failure [it doesn’t satisfy]. Jesus’ definition of a fool was this: ‘Every man is a fool who gets rich on earth but not in heaven’ (Luke 12:21). ‘Good success’ is putting God in first place, and allowing Him to put everything together for you.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me remember what REAL success is – and it lies in You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen